RECENT STORIES

Transafrika Benefit Concert ( Steve Baroch )
Police blotter: Who left the bloody handprint? ( Greenwood Village Police )
March on, my sisters, march on! ( Mary Carwile )
Police blotter: Car stolen at gunpoint ( YourHub.com )
Fall Into The Past At Castlewood ( Ron Claussen )

share a story | more postings »

YourHub.com \\ Greenwood Village \\ Stories \\ Faces of

Student puts "Special" in special education

e-mail to a friend | print this | link to this

NEXT › ‹ PREVIOUS

Contributed by: Dana Brandorff on 7/23/2008

For 20-year-old Ryan Hawley, having his design selected as the winning entry for the First American State Bank Fitness Festival T-shirt contest was a dream come true. Communicating via computer, Ryan, a recent graduate of the Cherry Creek School District's Transition Program for special education students, wrote, "I was very excited. I couldn't believe it when they announced that I had won. My mouth dropped open wide."

Not limited by his disability or wheelchair, Ryan is an amazing talent, and puts the "Special" in "Special Education Student". He has learned to master his own universe by using technology to its fullest. Having cerebral palsy, he is bound to a wheelchair and reliant upon computers to communicate, Ryan has learned to free his mind through the use of design software and is proficient in Illustrator and Photo Shop - essential programs for any graphic artist. Technology has become a way for Ryan to express himself. And express himself he does... well, as witnessed by his winning entry for the T-shirt contest.

Upon the urging of his graphic arts instructor, Ryan and classmates entered the T-shirt design contest without much thought of winning or losing. His intent was to create something that would symbolize the Fitness Festival and get him a winning grade in the class. Little did he know that his design would grace T-shirts for the event.

The Festival, held on September 6th at Crescent Park in the DTC area, includes the Kaiser Permanente 5K walk/run and NEW 1-mile fitness walk, food samplings from fourteen of the top restaurants in the area, entertainment, silent auction, prizes and lots of family fun. Established to bring awareness to children's fitness issues while benefiting the Community Asset Project, a partner with the Cherry Creek School District, in its efforts to build positive attitudes and behaviors in students to ensure their future success, the Festival marks the end of summer and the beginning of the school year.

Initially, Ryan approached the creative process with several ideas including a family grouping, but the one he came back to again and again was the sneaker concept. "I wanted something different. You always see pictures of people on T-shirts, but never any shoes. It was a simple new idea that worked," responded Ryan.

In addition to his winning entry for the First American State Bank Fitness Festival, Ryan has won the pin design for Destination Imagination and recently entered a design contest for the Dragon Boat Festival. Ryan's winning entry for this year's Festival has solidified his goal of one day pursuing a career in graphic design with an emphasis in game and movie media animation.

For more information on the First American State Bank Fitness Festival or to register, visit www.fasbfitnessfestival.com

[Report this as objectionable content.]

SUBMIT COMMENT

Rate the above story

Talk Back : submit comments to the story

*Note: you need to log-in to add a comment or rating.

Thank you! Your comment has been updated.

CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Dana Brandorff

Littleton , CO

Dana Brandorff has posted 85 stories and 0 comments since joining on 9/14/2005. Dana Brandorff 's average story rating is 5.

view profile » view other postings from Dana Brandorff »

SAVE AND SHARE THIS STORY

digg	Google
del.icio.us	Yahoo!
reddit	newsvine

What is this?

STORY RSS FEEDS

All stories

All stories in Greenwood Village

All stories by Dana Brandorff

WANT TO WRITE FOR YOURHUB.COM?

Want to see the stories you write and the photos you shoot featured in the YourHub.com Thursday print section available all over the Front Range and with home subscriptions of the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post? All you have to do is register, then post a story or column, start a blog or tell everyone what events are happening in town. We will print the best stories, columns, event listings, photos and blog entries in our print sections.

Loading Ad